By Paul Stoddart-van der Maaden
A compilation of information translated from Rail Magazine and Het Openbaar
VervoerMOTIVE POWER AND STOCK
The idea to temporarily reinstate a number of 1300's has been shelved. Despite
this, 1302 still received a new paint-job and service, and has now been sent
to Roosendaal to be used for 'learner-drivers'. Should the discussions surrounding
the purchase of 24 new locos break down, then we might still see 1302 in active
service. It is thought that 10x 1600's will be taken over from Railion. Of
the remaining 15 1300's, 8 have now been moved to Roosendaal in order to make
more room available at Tilburg.
Tilburg has now started to place Railion stickers on the 1600's and 6400's
owned by Railion. There are two new versions; blue lettering with a red square
for the yellow/grey locos and white lettering with a red square for the red
locos. These locos will now also carry the new web-site address www.railion.nl.
Because they do not wish to take all the locos out of service at once, this
'transformation' will take place over time.
Hard on the heels of the current task to overhaul Plan-T, a green light has
been given to provide Plan-V (series 1-3) with the same treatment. Thus giving
these units another lease of life, up to seven-half years in fact. June saw
timetables at Utrecht CS severely affected due to a side-ways collision between
units 456 and 829. This consequently meant that international traffic was re-routed
via the 'Kippenlijn' (Chicken-line), with ICE 406012 (en route Koln Hbf - Amsterdam
CS) running considerably slower than usual.
The decision has been taken to renovate the fleet of sprinters with the firm
Arhus, in Randers, Denmark, part of Bombardier Canada. The contract is still
being scrutinised, with the plan to start work in 2003.
It is estimated that 10% of NS's stock is currently out of action. This represents
a total length (when lined-up beginning to end) of around 11 km. Apparently,
the NS internally accepts a figure of around 5%, and with no improvement this
year in sight, matters can only go from the very bad to much worse. To try
and combat this worsening state of affairs, the NS has even had to award renovation
contracts to foreign firms (see sprinters), and approve design changes to the
IRM drive-units.

INFRASTRUCTURE
HSL (high speed line)-Zuid, the build-consortium BAM-NBM, engineering company
Fluor Daniel and Siemens, and finance-consortium RAB/ING have signed a contract
with the Dutch state to build the HSL-Zuid. The consortium will be responsible
for the design, build, finance and maintenance of the track, including the
provision of electrics, sound barriers and safety/ communication systems. The
route is due for completion in 2005, with a finance period of 25 years. The
consortium NS/ KLM will run 96 trains daily over parts of this route, with
6 trains per hour between Amsterdam and Rotterdam in both directions. It is
reported this journey will take around 35 mins, 32 trains will continue through
to Brussel, of which 16 will travel on to Paris, Den Haag - Brussel will offer
4 trains per hour.
HSL-Oost, it has been decided that the current route Utrecht-Arnhem-German
Border does not need to be adapted to a four-track high-speed line. The high-speed
trains departing from Amsterdam will use the existing track, instead capacity
will be increased by employing longer trains, extending station platforms,
adaptation of safety systems and a new 'by-pass' track at station Driebergen-Zeist.

PRIVATE OPERATORS
NOORDNED
Currently suffering from a large amount of defective rolling stock, NoordNed
recently found itself with 37 (out of a fleet of 88) on the sidelines. On top
of this, it appears that NedTrain, based in Onnen, is way behind with the maintenance
of the Wadlopers, worsened by the lack of necessary spare parts. These factors
have led to the decision to replace rolling stock with busses between Winschoten
and Nieuweschans. In response, the province of Groningen has threatened to
fine the operator. Arriva, one of the partners in NoordNed, then passed the
responsibility on to NS, as the NS was the supplier of rolling stock, which
in turn made NS, react and temporarily provide NoordNed with six Plan-U's.
NoordNed has also said it plans to purchase 48 new units. With an investment
of 240m Dfl, the purchase is dependent on NoordNed selling their existing units
on the 2nd hand market, which is said to be buoyant.
CONNEXXION
The Almelo 'soap' continues; due to unit 186 not coming through the safety-check,
buses replaced trains but this did however present an opportunity to install
ATB-NG. Connexxion also arranged with Syntus to use one of their Lint units
- unfortunately they could only provide one unit. Despite these ongoing problems,
the province of Overijssel has agreed to extend its contract with Connexxion
until 2007, it does however include a clause, stipulating that a minimum of
95% service level is provided at all times.
SYNTUS VS. RAILINFRABEHEER
Apparently relations between these two have hit an all time low, as Syntus
- using light rail between Arnhem, Winterswijk and Zutphen - is complaining
about the poor condition of the track and the increasing amount of 'interference'.
Not only does this mean that Syntus is struggling to run to schedule, but it
says its corporate image is starting to suffer too.
SHORTLINES
ShortLines have recently taken over the container service between Rotterdam
and Acht and Blerick from Railion, and anticipate this service will account
for 90,000 TUE (twenty feet equivalent unit) containers per year. July saw
the first appearance of the red loco 61 (Class 66) in The Netherlands, HGK
have acquired two of this class and given them the numbers 61 and 62 respectively.
The locos are being used on the ShortLines service between Koln and Rotterdam,
via Venlo. The load has however to date been light, with many empty containers,
due to Railion taking over the Munchen and Mannheim service.
RAILION
Railion have also lost the shunting operation at Beverwijk, this is now in
the hands of the steel conglomerate Corus. Trains coming via Haarlem are now
led by Corus owned locos between Corus and Beverwijk station; Railion now collects
trains from the Uitgeest direction from the Corus yards. It appears that the
summer timetables introduced had almost gone unnoticed, with only minor changes
as opposed to that of NS Reizigers. The most significant changes can be found
in the distribution of iron-ore and coal, with iron-ore services now running
5 times daily.

MISCELLANEOUS
Room for the bicycle; under the motto of 'Ruimte voor de fiets', the NS will
start to modernise all of the four hundred bicycle bays. It is estimated that
4/10 passengers travel to/from the station by bike. Because of this number,
and the fact that the NS wishes to encourage the use of bicycles, the bays
are being upgraded. This means more room, covered areas, lockers, and an increased
number of 'secured' bays. The project will continue to be rolled out this year;
Soest, Rotterdam, Berkel and Rodenrijs are already complete.
The NS is currently testing new 'service units' at 12 stations. These have
been placed at some of the smaller, unmanned stations to provide some level
of service and will include ticket-machines, freephone information, travel
information and alarm-buttons. Over and above, they will also be installed
with CCTV for more safety. The units are currently used by travellers to enquire
into timetables and travel advice, the questions are answered by 'a real' person,
in 'real time'. If successful, you will start to see these units across the
network.
The introduction of the new timetable has as yet not led to an improvement
in punctuality. 71% of trains ran on time, compared to 85% before the new timetable
was introduced. With a new intake of extra personnel NS is expecting to improve
on this soon.
The NS is planning to open 32 sales offices in post-offices located close to
small stations and will add another 34 next year.
TRAM AND METRO

GVB
Infrastructure improvements continue with progress on the catenary in and
around the Haarlemmermeer circuit. Furthermore, the new stop at Mozes & Aaron
street (line 14 and temporarily line 5) came into use, replacing the one
located on de Dam. The board responsible for Amsterdam Old-South has also
decided to
extend line 16 to the VU Hospital complex. Line 24 will probably not see
any extension, as since the introduction of the North-South line, it no
longer takes passengers to Centraal Station. Line 6 was not thought feasible
enough
for extension, but the 'last stop' will be re-routed to coincide with that
of line 24 at Stadionweg. Due to line 20's demise in the near future, line
16 will see a major route extension from 2003 onwards; 'circle-tram' line
20
will end in September of next year. The number of passengers using this
service is way below expectation. It is also thought the route is not of
interest
to tourists, and Amsterdammers would rather use lines 16 or 9 to get to
the Albert
Cuyp (market) or Artis (zoo), as these routes are direct.
As per usual, the number of units in service dropped between end May and September,
a period known at the GVB as 'high-summer' service. With improvements to the
A10 West motorway, lines 1, 2, 13 and 17 have all had their units increased
by one car in order to lessen the effects of anticipated delays.
As with tram routes, ring line 50 will now operate with 3-car units during
the improvements to the A10 west. Metro station 'Ferdinand Bolstraat' has seen
its build-costs increase by 22m Dfl. The cause of this is that the entrances
to the station will now be incorporated in existing buildings, and the purchase
of these, together with 'damage payments' are coming in above estimates. The
money will partly be found from next year's funds.
HTM
Work has started at Erasmusweg in preparation for the extension of line 9 to
Wateringse Veld. Line 10 - between Rijswijkseplein and Laakkade is also seeing
alterations, including its track being lowered beneath the railway viaduct.
Line 10 will therefore still continue to route via station HS. With renovation
work to both the Hoornbrug and Reineveldbrug, line 1 has been temporarily suspended
and partially replaced by buses, which connect Rijswijk to line 17. This has
also enabled the HTM to carry out improvements ahead of schedule, including
the new connection for the future line 15 with Hoornbrug, and the replacement
of track at Delftweg.
RET
Minister Netelenbosch has guaranteed 77m Dfl to complete the TramPlus line
to IJsselmonde. This funding also means that the existing Stadionline can be
extended through to the Groene Tuin (on the line previously used by line 12)
the work is set to be completed by 2005. IJsselmonde will also see a new shopping
centre built, with an integrated tram/ bus station. A further 128m Dfl. will
be provided for the building of the Carnisselandeline, assuming a route along
the 'Groene Hilledijk'.MUSEUMS

ZUID LIMBURGSE STOOMTREIN MAATSCHAPPIJ
B1220; this steam loco has now officially been taken into service,
the same as the 1289, it is kitted-out with a grey boiler and cab,
the tender is black/
red. The newly acquired 8826 can now also be sponsored by 'the kilo',
sponsors receiving a certificate. Substantial funds are required
for this project, as
it is already known that the boiler has to be replaced. DE-II 179; a
start has finally been made on the restoration of this unit, with
a great deal of
progress. Its colour has however not yet been decided.

DUTCH RAILWAY AND TRAMWAY NEWS
By Peter van der Mark
Editors note, when Peter sent me the article below he wrote ‘Couldn’t
help it, things are moving fast in Holland and I had a number of what I thought
newsworthy items ready so I wrote them down’. I’m glad you did,
and if you feel you ‘can’t help it’ again, feel free
to send the results to me.
NS Management admits shoddy handling of recent strike crises. After
the problems between management and on-train staff were resolved when
NS-management
publicly
admitted that their handling of the various items of discontent amongst
staff before, and during the crisis, was fairly appalling and that
excuses to staff
and the public were rightfully due. A new wind appears to be blowing
through the musty corridors in Utrecht. One of the main bones of contention,
the much
disliked new train crew rosters designed to make the service reliability
more robust, has so far not noticeably proven itself, which makes the
recent period
of misery for the customer even more of a questionable event. A fair
number of cuts have now been made in the weekend services of the new
winter timetable
to improve service reliability and get more trainsets available for
servicing to combat rolling stock unreliability and to give more staff
a chance
to take time off.

The drive to find the badly needed extra 459 drivers and 300 fitters continues,
but competition for front-end staff on the labour market increasingly gets
a European edge. NS, in competition with equally staff-strapped Swiss railways,
is now trying to woo redundant German drivers and maintenance staff to the
Netherlands, while on the other hand the first signs of brassed-off Dutch
drivers finding their way to other countries are becoming noticeable. Among
other interests such as much more appealing work and more leisure time, the
lure of the considerably higher wages versus lower taxes in for instance
Britain is deeply appreciated. It is in fact a repeat on a European scale
of what happened in Britain after privatisation, when staff could vote with
their feet about whom they found the most appealing employer, pushing up
wages no end and leaving less well-liked operators with severe shortages
of drivers. This still is an ongoing thing, as a matter of fact.

NS sees these increasingly difficult to handle staffing problems looming
and they have taken on the services of the Belgian transport expert professor
C. Peeters to help them to set up crew rosters which will meet both the transport
needs of the operator as well as the work interest and leisure time needs
of the crews in order to cut the rampant rate of staff sickness and make
the job reasonably attractive again. It is better remuneration, which is
going to be the main attracting force since the traditional rail staff attachment
to their jobs has been squandered, and the operators are now faced with dealing
with foreign staff on an international labour market who have no particular
attachment to anything but their wallet. The Euro allows instant comparison
between the benefits of the various working environments and the quality
of the paycheck determines the quality of the staff at work. The European
unification has had unforeseen effects in unforeseen places.

Dutch
government proposes to take action to get more control over NS again.
The enthusiasm among a majority of the Dutch MP's for the
commercialisation
of the national rail passenger operator has worn so thin that stressed
transport minister Tineke Netelenbosch saw an opportunity to appear to
be doing something
by proposing to investigate turning back the commercial and operational
freedom of NS. This is in order to have more clout should NS continue
to habitually
disregard national transport policies whilst still failing the electorate
in the way it has on a number of occasions in the past years. While certainly
not all MP's agree with her actions (notably the tax-shy right wing, who
probably never use a train in the first place and who fear seeing a ‘black
hole’ of public transport funding opening up in the budget again)
she has, nevertheless, a fair bit of support. At the same time, following
parallel
findings in Britain and Japan concerning operational quality, she proposes
to reintegrate operations, traffic control and infrastructure management
to boost reliability. Only very few (again, mostly those on the deeper
conservative side) still believe that true on-track competition will ever
take off in
any big way, even after the Lovers Rail fiasco, but the benefits of vertical
re-integration appear enticing in the light of recent experiences and findings
at home and abroad, notably in Britain. The passenger interest groups and
unions reacted with delighted surprise, but the business world, despite
its slaughtering of NS service delivery in publications, showed the expected,
yet not forcefully worded reservations, mentioning benefits of competition
etc.

In the meantime the contracts for 15 years of High Speed Line operations
comprising 96 services per day have been signed, as expected, between the
government and the NS/ KLM/ National Express combine, keeping everything
on the high speed front nicely in one hand as well. This does guarantee the
ongoing integration of all the offered rail services in The Netherlands and
has therefore distinct customer benefits, while it avoids the pointless and
potentially damaging InterCity competition on this very small network. The
National Express bit could probably do something about future better rail
connections from Britain to The Netherlands (fast London to Antwerpen and
beyond, bypassing Ashford, Lille and Brussel for instance!), possibly with
combined mail, parcels and passenger trainsets along the lines of the Overnight
Express in its original form.

The background of what is written above. This article will try to give an
answer to the question: Why is it that NS, once one of the paragons of rail
convenience in Europe, has become a second rate rail operator? What are the
parameters with which to decide what constitutes a second rate rail operator?
To mention but one, some of the British InterCity and the Dutch operator
are doing rather well financially! The railways in Switzerland, momentarily
the bee's knees as far as passenger satisfaction is concerned, do a fair
lot worse on this score and the French and German railways, revered by the
British press for their comfort and high speed, are a financial fiasco in
comparison.

The railways in Britain as well as those in The Netherlands have in common
that it was the financial argument which carried weight in government decisions
about their future. Possible benefits for their customers would be derived
from the market-led operations but were not statutory in the privatisation
cum commercialisation process. That is why there are a number of strange
similarities between them, such as the fact that the customer in neither
case really had any advantage from the proceedings and the fact that technically
speaking both operations are on a backward slide as characterised by their
increased unreliability.

When the railways in The Netherlands were commercialised the directions
as far as NS was concerned were to prepare itself for full privatisation,
which required proven maximum profitability on investment for whoever bought
shares. Whatever can be said about NS, this and nothing else has been the
driving force behind company policies. The state is as yet the sole shareholder
in the company and as such is prevented from interfering with the daily operations
or the formulating of long term operational goals. Only when financial goals
are not being met in a disastrous way can some form of adjustment take place.
This sole shareholder-ship situation therefore prevented the state, in its
guise as regulator and transport policymaker, from exercising any effective
regulatory function at the behest of the hassled customer, which would have
interfered with the business strategy, and earning power of NS.

This is the little understood reason why no moves could be made by the state,
despite its ownership of NS, to break the deadlock during the last series
of unrest amongst staff. As angry customers start to put pressure on the
Members of Parliament and Ministry by threatening to change votes during
the next elections, there are fears for jobs, hence the moves to turn back
the commercial freedom by Minister Netelenbosch. Whether she will achieve
anything worthwhile is highly questionable, as the change needed is fundamental
and might clash with political right wing ambitions, with NS, as well as
European guidelines and law. Whilst NS lacks the regulatory influences to
keep it on the straight and narrow as a passenger friendly operator, the
demise of Lovers Rail -much of it of its own making- has put all serious
competition in the freezer, so there also is no competitive power to make
NS behave itself. The freedom of NS to do as it finds necessary to maximise
earnings is quite unbelievable when looking at the situation in Britain and
is a serious indictment of ministerial and parliamentary knowledge and alertness
during the commercialisation process. Despite the Swedish and British examples
many sides of this process did not get the attention which was required.

NS has 195,000 seats, which according to contract, no more than 25,000 may
be out of service for maintenance or failure per day. At the moment the amount
standing around runs at about 40,000 per day and is not really improving.
The wheeling and dealing in real estate around railway property became a
major way to raise funds, in Britain as well as in The Netherlands organisations
are now trying to prevent this, in Britain for railway development purposes,
in The Netherlands because the state is waking up to the fact that they are
missing out on substantial tax revenue.

Most of all this was the bell which woke up the Members of Parliament to
the reality that next to having given away all powers to instil even a vestige
of a transport policy on the main passenger rail operator, as was promised
to the electorate in various election manifesto's, they had no clue as to
the staggering wealth they had rather unwittingly bequeathed to NS. They
made it the biggest owner of real estate in the most exquisite locations
in the country, who never paid a penny to acquire it, without seeing much
of that cash flowing back into better services, if anything it was quite
the contrary. It finally made them question whether the fines they imposed
to sooth public outcry had any measurable effect at all in such an environment.

EWS
- ACTS Class 58 contract still not ratified but "progress is being
made". In the Dutch as well as the British rail press little notes keep
popping up about the ten class 58 Co-Co' Diesel Electrics which ACTS would
like to hire from EWS. The story behind it so far, if I understand a number
of people and publications rightly, is that EWS would like to do more with
momentarily redundant traction in the way of the hire of the class 37's to
France, Spain and Italy. ACTS from its side needs capable, reliable and flexible
traction as the class 1200 Co-Co’s lack brute pulling power, are
showing their age a mite too often and are tied to the 1.5 kV wires which
leads to
problems when diversions and future foreign (German, Belgian) expeditions
are on the cards.

The last thing one could say about class 58, however, is that they are reliable
to the extent that ACTS is going to love them to bits. Also, the number of
alterations that will have to be made to these locos makes me wonder whether
the hire is going to be that cost effective. New headlight clusters will
probably not break the bank but the required fitting of Dutch ATB-L (EG,
NG and ETCS compatibility) is going to be very costly, both in the acquisition
and fitting of hardware as well as the tweaking time needed to make it work,
to which must be added the time and cost needed for Dutch certification,
followed by the not inconsiderable effort required to keep them going reasonably
satisfactorily. After this the locos will be around for only ten years or
so and then go back to Britain? Come on!

Of course, it could be that EWS International has cunning plans to set up
Dutch open access activities with ACTS or so. In which case classes 59 and
66 with their Dutch and German certification, and of which the interface
with ATB as well as Indusi is known and tested would have been the very obvious
choice. Then there is the fact that various manufacturers now offer reconditioned
as well as new traction with German and Dutch certification for juicy prices
in power by the hour, lease and purchase deals. Fitting and tweaking of Indusi
and ATB on these machines is far easier than in older un-rebuilt traction
like class 58 due to the fact that new and reconditioned traction is delivered
with train control systems compatibility as part of the specification. Look
at the relative ease with which various types of Vossloh builds (including
Railion 6400 and Belgian 77) get equipped with a multitude of such train
protection systems.

The deal however becomes well nigh absurd when realising that EWS is fairly
soon going to be about 20 to 25 traction units short for existing obligations
when the second phase of the CTRL with its tunnels kicks in. Together with
Freightliner, EWS has dedicated class 66 for this job, as only that type
is admissible due to noise and exhaust regulations. This shortfall is going
to be relieved by reinstating members of the ageing and even less reliable
class 56, which otherwise proves valuable through stripping out and selling
their main alternators and rectifying kit for class 47 to 57 conversions.

Pacers or no Pacers in The Netherlands. In the meantime, the use of two
class 140 Pacer units from off-lease stock to relieve the troubled last operational
DE2 set from duty on the Marienberg line appeared to be off, because the
narrowness of the bodies in relation to the platforms in The Netherlands
posed a safety hazard and precluded permission to use them in passenger service.
Nevertheless, RAIL and later other British magazines published articles that
RailNed had in fact accepted the trains for strictly limited services and
they would be shipped sometime between August and October.

New loco struggle heats up for NS. It has been mentioned before in Nieuwsbrief
that NS (formerly NS-R) is looking for new traction now that class 1300 has
finally been ditched as a means of working passenger trains in The Netherlands
under the new order with its fast push-pull operations. It has also been
mentioned that really what NS wants is for Railion (formerly NS-C) to give
up their class 1600's to NS and that they then get the new locos they would
really like to have, DE or E-Multi-voltage. This way NS can start using the
additional locos the day they can lay their hands on them, without having
to retrain drivers and having to fit ATB. By the time these locos wear out,
from 2015 onwards, the same will have happened with the available ICR and
ICK coaches and a wholesale replacement of 1980's rolling stock can take
place with more double deck EMU's, for which the little kingdom is after
all the most ideal sporting ground. Railion from its side has started to
remove the NS identity stickers and apply its name on the 1600's, complete
with its website. Further repaints to red are still not mooted.

In September the NS advert for 24 units of new traction appeared in the
relevant media and strangely enough Railion is one of the possible contestants
to sell traction. I am really curious whether NS itself will take on all
the new traction, and what it is going to be. Single cab power car machinery
such as the class 91 in Britain, push-pull operated with whatever unpowered
stock happens to be around? That is tantamount to another change of rolling
stock policy!

In the meantime the first batch of ex-German ICK coaches is now making its
presence felt and the ICR conversion saga also appears to have resulted in
some upgraded coaches appearing. The initial idea to use the reconditioned
solid state alternators from the ICR to re-equip the ICK has been abandoned
as the pace at which this kit becomes available is too slow and would hinder
the delivery of the ICK coaches, which is now running as planned, which is
more than can be said about the ICR upgrade.

SPAD worries on NS as well. Just to show that SPAD's are nothing that is
specific to the railways in Britain; on a yearly basis about 280 SPAD's are
recorded on the railways in The Netherlands and the number of incidents is
increasing. The majority is being caused by overlooking position light signals
or through wrong assessment of braking power and braking distance, which
tallies with the British experience. Readers who still have previous issues
of Nieuwsbrief might remember that the older generation ATP in The Netherlands
does not actually stop a train from travelling through a red light, but will
restrict that train to 40 kph, which obviously limits the possible damage
following an eventual collision. Now there is a political drive to install
new generation ATP all over the network.

This is in fact a bit of an expensive folly as ETCS is about to make its
presence felt in The Netherlands and this will have the desired ATP features,
complete with automatic train stop on red, just another bit of proof that
politicians and Quango bosses have a tendency to talk before having decently
informed themselves. The drivers, incidentally, blame the increased monotony
of their job as one of the main reasons for the increasing amount of SPAD's.

Betuwe Freight Line formation nears its completion, problems near Zevenaar.
The formation of the Betuwe Freight route can now be traced all the way from
Rotterdam to the German border, and the work on the various engineering bits
is progressing very well. The works ran into a certain amount of trouble
near Zevenaar though, when ground water leaked into the long local tunnel
in substantial quantities. Forceful pumping (the Dutch know a thing or two
about that) to keep the works dry quickly lowered the local ground water
table to such an extent that houses in a nearby estate came near to collapse.
Not unexpectedly it caused an outcry and the anti-Betuwe line lobby had a
very good couple of weeks out of it.

A problem with the line, which, however, has still not been resolved, is
the choice of traction current. The classical Dutch 1.5 kV DC has been unanimously
ruled out, but the initial replacement with 25 kV 50 Hz AC does not appear
as logical anymore as it did up to now. The stark reality is that virtually
all traffic will go to or come from Germany and that a German/Dutch operator
is the lead user. It is virtually a German stand-alone railway line within
The Netherlands. So why would one want to install a 50 Hz power system when
German locos use the 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC system at home? More to the point,
why even install Dutch signalling when German signalling will allow German
standard locos to complete the trip to Rotterdam from wherever they happen
to come from, such as say the Italian border with Austria or Switzerland,
instead of having to employ expensive multi voltage/ multi signalling machines
from somewhere halfway as is the case under the present plans. Keeping it
cheap will only help to make the line (and with that Rotterdam) commercially
more attractive. Stay tuned on this one, as it might actually change a few
ideas on re-electrification in The Netherlands quite fundamentally!
The sight of the diggers within reach of the border must have woken the Germans
up to the reality that quite soon there will be long trains storming towards
their yards and stations and as yet absolutely nothing has been done about
dispersing them. The Bundesland of Nordrhein-Westfahlen, through its Minister
of Economy, Energy and Traffic Mr. E. Schwanhold, got a bit nervous about
this prospect of stacks of freight trains everywhere and of failing in the
eyes of the rest of the world (a sometimes useful German characteristic,
that) and made it known in a meeting in Arnhem that he is now putting pressure
on the central government in Berlin to allocate funds for the line in Germany.
He also said that probably this is a very regional thing to work out, there
is no need to overly involve the state in it. Mr. Schwanhold pleased them
in Arnhem very much by expressing his doubt and his displeasure with having
the ICE-M's run at only 140 kph (85 mph) between Utrecht and Arnhem after
the Dutch government ruled out extending the HSL East all the way to Arnhem,
a very sore point in the area indeed.

Light
rail ideas take further shape, but are they well considered? Between
Gouda and Alphen a/d Rijn the local plans centre on a low floor
tram as used
around Stockholm in Sweden. The background is that at a later stage "the
light rail" might run in normal street traffic -presumably as a tram-
as well. The upshot is, however, that the platforms along the line will
have to be lowered to 40 cm above rail head and that all planned future
extensions
along existing rail lines, whether dedicated solely to tram traffic or
not, will require the same thing. This would make diversions of and return
to
full size rail operations difficult and costly. How this sort of low floor
stock is in fact expected to work along the planned Utrecht CS to Leiden
corridor (large stations worked by both systems at each end) is not clear.
If, on the other hand, the new service could be hooked up to the present
Sneltram operation to Nieuwegein to get to Utrecht CS, which appears logical
to me and was already talked about years ago, it would be out of sync again
with the standard high floor trams running there now.

Low floor operation only has a decent advantage over standard vehicle operation
when at least 50 per cent of traffic takes place in fairly slowly worked
inner-city street running environments, where a higher top speed doesn't
matter as much as good acceleration, and where dedicated platforms take up
too much space. This, however, is not the case in the Gouda- Leiden and West
of Utrecht triangle. The big disadvantages of true low floor stock are that
the intricate construction and involved maintenance of such vehicles makes
them more expensive to purchase and operate than standard vehicles of comparable
capacity, and a high top speed is a necessary ingredient of the whole Rijn-Gouwe
light rail concept if some commercial viability is one of the aims. The standard
sneltram vehicles have under floor space for the sort of bogies that make
running at 120 kph (75 mph) possible.

Furthermore, with regards to full low floor operations, a new generation
of traffic expert is presently finding out that the safety of customers at
tram stops, especially on those located near the centre line of streets used
by road traffic as well, is better served by higher platforms with sturdy
fencing. Car drivers rather publicly damage their prized possessions as well
as their ego's if they inadvertently smash into them, which keeps excessively
stupid road behaviour reasonably in check, while the occupants of the tram
stop at the time of an accident usually escape unhurt. If the powers that
be are still hell-bent on low floor, then of course there is the example
of the similar two-level situation in Amsterdam toward Amstelveen (street
tram and sneltram stock on lines 5 and 55). Here the problem has been reasonably
satisfactorily solved with double length/ dual height platforms, but why
one would build in this sort of expensive inconvenience right from the start
is unclear if a better solution by dropping the idea of low floor trams is
possible, in any case, RailNed appears less than enthralled.

As a positive contrast the much more realistic plans to start sneltram operations
along the present rail route between Haarlem and Zandvoort, with logically
planned diversions and extensions into the inhabited area's at both ends
are progressing. That line lost its main public interest when the services
from Maastricht were terminated in Haarlem. The replacement train service
never really answered the travel needs of the non-local summer beach crowds
due to the now necessary change of trains in Haarlem, while the station at
Zandvoort on the other hand was always rather far away from where the interesting
bits of beach life took place. Quite a slog on a hot summer's day indeed,
I recall.

These plans have the classic and proven Siemens Stadtbahn B80 metro/tram
vehicles as a basis and there is nothing low floor about them, even though
folding steps are bolt-on options in the case of use in streets. Siemens
is currently building 48 of these vehicles for the Turkish city of Bursa
and keeping the production line open for a small Dutch add-on order might
generate worthwhile savings for the purchaser.

BELGIAN NEWS
By Ralph Hanley
[Based on “En Lignes” and “Journal du Chemin de Fer”]
MOTIVE POWER AND STOCK
The overall picture is of a slow but sure demise of all the series 50 / 60
/ 84 diesels, with new diesel motive power and increased electrification.
Withdrawals to date are: 5148, 5130, 6233, 7102, and 7103.
1503 of series 15 has been hauling the new track and catenary inspection
vehicle, a luggage break on M2 carriages were included to provide sufficient
breaking at high speeds. The remainder are now on limited freight duties
between Liege and Gouvy.
Series 16, 1608 has been repainted in golden livery by Marklin, and is currently
operating on the Oostende to Koln service.
Series 20 are now all relegated to Freight duties, and replacing the series
51 on the freight from Antwerp to Germany.
The series 21 damaged in the March collision at Braine-le-Compte is to be
repaired at Salzinnes.
As from early June, series 25 are no longer in regular service. The Italian
FSL network is interested in buying four of these engines.
Series 51 numbers are starting to decline, being replaced by the series 77.
Charleroi will lose all this series by the year-end; this will then leave
the total with less than 20.
The bulk of the series 52, 53 & 54 are now planned to be withdrawn,
those remaining will be allocated to TGV works. [Two have replaced 5947
and 5950,
scrapped after the accident at Remicourt in January].
Series 62 / 63 autorails are being replaced by the new series 41. Their main
duty is a weekday service, Antwerp to Neerpelt.
Poor condition has taken series 70 nos. 7004 and 7005 out of service. Currently
7001 and 7003 are used on the daily Antwerp [Kallo] to Kiel service.
Series 71 & 75 have prematurely been taken out of SNCB service, these
have been bought by Italian permanent way companies NERI and MASIA.
Series 77 are beginning to spread across the network from Antwerp North.
This series can now and soon [September] will be seen at Charleroi, Kinkempois
and Merelbeke.
8209 and 8210 of series 82 have been broken up at Merelbeke, 2002 looks like
being a fatal year for this series.
Four remaining series 84 have been allocated to Charleroi for departmental
duties.
Tunisia is interested in buying the remaining series 85 for permanent way
duties.
The remaining series 91 at Charleroi will probably all be withdrawn by the
end of 2001.
22 of the Series 600 have been modernised, and should be in service for some
time.
The last 3 Series 129 - 150 [Budd Inox nos. 134, 138 & 143] EMU’s
have left Belgium for service in Italy. Currently none are retained for
preservation although 106 is on signal network duties and 082 is still
with the PFT. The
only remaining ones in service are those of the CFL [Luxembourg to Thionville].
Series 41 have suffered from technical problems in their first months of
operations. The major problems being the diesel motors, [mainly the injectors & pumps]
and door operation. Passengers have complained of the air conditioning
being too cold. All this series are planned to be corrected at Schaerbeek.
The first of series 900 [932] was withdrawn, being damaged in the accident
at Pecrot.
SNCB have tested the series Z [2100] of the CFL between Ath and Silly with
the possibility for service on the SNCB network.
SNCB are evaluating the Alstom Prima electric locomotive with the possibility
to purchase for the system. Briefly this is 90 tonnes, 4,200 kW, and can
haul a 1,600 tonne train at 70 Kph up a 10 % gradient.
In January Bombardier and SNCB made a “mock up” of the proposed
double decker type M6 carriage. These will be manufactured by Valenciennes
[chassis], Crespin [bogies] and fitting out by Bombardier [Bruge]. 210
are planned to be made and should be in service between 2002 and 2004.
Bombardier
has been allowed to purchase the German Adtranz, which now makes Bombardier
the largest railway stock manufacturer in the world.

INFRASTRUCTURE
A new high-speed line, 220 Kph, is proposed between Nivelles and Bruxelles
mainly alongside the A19 and A54. This will reduce the journey time to 15
minutes.
The new station at Zeebrugge Bad, Line 51A, is now opened weekends only
for seaside traffic. The platform length, [12 coaches], would seem optimistic
for the 2 set Class 66’s which operate this service.
As part of the quadrupling of the tracks between Bruxelles and Leuven, the
station at Kortenberg, [Line 36], has been demolished and replaced by a temporary
structure.
Line 10 Zwijndrecht to Kallo is being doubled and electrified. Work, which
includes a new tunnel under the Schelde, is scheduled to be completed by
2003.
Line 108 between La Louviere to Binche is planned to be reduced to a single
track. This will include refurbishing Binche station and a new parking area.
Timetables are unlikely to be affected.
The longest CFL service, the summer Sundays Luxembourg to Blankenberge
has resumed for 2001. This is now hauled by CFL type 3000, a “bargain” trip
at 950 LUF return].
The Tram museum in Antwerp has been opened. This is in the earlier “Tram
shed” in Dikmuidelaan 42, located on Bus Lijn 16 between Berchem
station and Antwerp Airport. The museum, Tel: 00.32.3.322.4462 is open
weekends in
April to October and holidays between 14:00 to 17:30. Entrance fee is 100
Bfr. In addition to over 20 trams from Antwerp and Gent, there are 20 Buses
and Trolley Buses.

MISCELLANEOUS
In addition to the Pecrot collision in March, another collision took place
at Braine-le-Compte [line 96] on 22 March. This time a coupling fractured
on a freight train leaving 4 wagons behind and unbraked. These apparently
unobserved, rolled down gradient over a reset point to collide with a coke
train. The engine 2121 was derailed, but fortunately the driver was only
slightly injured. The engine has since been repaired.
The PTT have commemorated 75 years of SNCB with 4 telecards [500 Bfr] showing
Type 1 Pacific, Class 77, Class 1300 and the earlier Class 101 and 3 stamps
[17 Bfr] showing Type 12 streamlined Pacific, Class 66 EMU and “Break” 328.

MAIN ARTICLES
En Lignes 46
Along the Vestre in the summer of 1962, final part; The TGV Mediterranie
construction; Last mechanical signals on the SNCB; Reopening of SNCB line
147; The early Cockerill-Sambre mineral wagons, now all being withdrawn;
PFT Rail Trip to Morocco October 2000, final part.
Journal du Chemin de Fer 122
75 years of the SNCB; The future of SNCB diesels; The end of series 84; Steam
engines type 96 of the SNCB; The large projects of the Vennbahn.

NS DOUBLE DECK COACH IN N
By Mike Denman
This article has been moved to the modelling pages - click here

A DAY ON THE CFL
By Ralph Hanley
Luxembourg is a small country which most people drive through and fill
up with cheap fuel. For several years we have holidayed in Luxembourg in
a small
village close to Echternach, now devoid of any rail link. This year we
bought a “Billet Reseau” for 180 LUF, [approx. £2.80].
This entitles one to unlimited travel for one day on the CFL network, [both
by bus and
rail].

Our first stage was the bus from the village to Luxembourg station, a journey
of 33 km. Luxembourg station has a varied display of rolling stock and motive
power, with representatives from the SNCB, SNCF, NS, DB, CFF and CFL systems.
In addition there is the Model Shop in Rue de Bonnevoie just 5 minutes walk
on the other side of the station. The outward journey was to Troisvierges,
just on the northern border, on the Luxembourg to Liege service. This was
with SNCB IC orange coaches hauled by CFL class 3100. For the tolerant wives
it is a very scenic trip from Ettlebruck to Troisvierges through a valley
alongside the rivers Clerve and Wiltz. Troisvierges station is quite modern,
but probably a good 10 minutes walk from the village. This we anticipated
by buying a picnic at Luxembourg station.

The
return journey was with identical stock and motive power. Whilst waiting
at Troisvierges, the “local” from Luxembourg arrived with CFL
green and cream coaches again hauled by CFL class 3100. At Ettlebruck we
passed the Wiltz service consisting of a single new “Bullet” type
EMU. There was no sign of any Class 3600 BB electric engines on the network.
Although several were observed in the sheds on a previous trip whilst leaving
Luxembourg. Class 250 / 260 Budd Inox emus are still being used on the “local” services
to Thionville.

From
Luxembourg we had 2 choices to Wasserbillig, either by DB IC stock, or
local CFL Class 2000 EMU. We chose the latter, although “all stations”,
these were very comfortable and arrived just ahead of the DB direct train.
This allowed the arrival of the DB to be witnessed, in addition another arrival
from Trier of DB red and white EMU. The connecting bus to Echternach arrived
on time and connected with the bus back to the village. Our experience was
that the CFL runs “on time”, both buses and trains, so there
is no need to take “one service ahead”. Buses and trains all
connect with each other, the average connection time being 5 to 8 minutes.

It would seem that the CFL rail system is ambidextrous, that is trains run
on the left in from Arlon, on the right to Thionville and Wasserbillig. Going
to Troisvierges we alternated between left and right, although from Troisvierges
on to Liege it reverted to the left. In all it was a very inexpensive day
out.

NS MUSEUM TO CLOSE ITS DOORS FOR 2 YEARS
Translated from an article in Rail Magazine, June 2001.
By Paul Stoddart-van der Maaden
Should you therefore still wish to visit the museum in its current layout,
then be quick; you have until May 2002. The museum will be closed for two
years and undergo a dramatic redesign, requiring an investment of around
70m Dfl. It was notified in the press as follows …" An important
decision was taken on the 19th May: The NS is to invest 70m Dfl to retain
the past of the NS, and therefore the future of the Netherlands Railway museum.
The museum can now guarantee a continued existence of the existing collection ".

In
its current design, the museum displays its collection protected only
by platform roofing, which the NS had built in the 70's.
These offer little
protection the to weathers' changing seasons. The new funding provides
the opportunity to maintain and display the collection in a specially
designed
in-door environment. Moreover, the new design will also provide the latest
in multi-media presentation facilities, presenting the railways in an up-to-date
modern manner. With these changes, the museum is looking to place itself
at the forefront of railway museums in Europe, indeed create a museum with "international
allure". The priority is to replace the current 'open-air' displays
with an all-encompassing in-door facility. The responsibility for this
new design falls with Nienke van de Lune of architects Holland Rail consult.
Not only must it be impressive, but also adhere to all the demands of modern
climate control and be environment friendly.

The
redesign will also incorporate the past. The museum, which is housed
in the former Maliebaan station, will be renovated to its
original splendour
as it was in 1874 - and thus be unique in railway architecture, as there
is no single station in The Netherlands that has been kept in its original
design. A new building is also to be built, housed on the existing complex,
which will display five different aspects of our 'world of railways' in
a "natural
setting, giving you the feeling that you're on a film-set". Including
the existing collection, these worlds will be centred on themes such as 'Black
Magic' (Steam era), 'La Belle Époque' (long journeys, comfort & luxury)
and of course the development of the railways from the devastating war
years through to the 21st century. The centrepiece and most impressive
part of
the new design will be an authentic turntable.

Another major change is that the museum will no longer house its 'active'
rolling stock. They will find their new home with HTMU, as a direct connection
with the network to/from the museum cannot be maintained with the new design.
There will be a 'small train' (how small is small?) running through the display
areas, which are hoped to attract around 250,000 visitors per annum.
The 'farewell' party for the current museum will coincide with the 3-day
steam event in April of next year. The museum has also promised to move its
'active' rolling stock (to the HTMU depot) during this event, making it a
date not to be missed! All other displays will temporarily move to the Amersfoort
works.MODELLING NEWS
By Ralph Hanley
Train Minature 12, and Journal du Chemin de Fer 122
For those with an industrial layout, Preiser have issued a set of 7 striking
work persons.
Brekina in conjunction with Modelbouwcentrum, West Vlaarderen, Brugge,
have a limited [500] edition of the SNCB autobus époques III to IV in green
from the period 1965 to 1970. Price, including postage, is £17. Modelbouwcentrum
also have a series of typical Belgian facades for buildings.
Rietz have released an autocar “De Lijn” Mercedes 0.350. Catalogue
no. 61287. In addition for “swift deliveries” there is a VW Sharan
in DHL livery, and to patrol ones network, a Ford Galaxy “Politie Genk”,
catalogue no. 50.742
LS Models have produced an SNCB “Memling” I10 second class coach
and Bistro. In addition LS Models have “Eurofima” coaches for
second and first class. These apparently have greater spacing between coaches
than compared with the earlier Fleischmann issue.
In addition there is a test report on the Jocadis series 51, which has a
high rating, but also high price at 18,000 Bfr.
In depth article on an Ardennes layout, which should be worth seeing at an
exhibition.
Details on making a station halt type building.
Modifying existing Lima and OsKar SNCB coaches.
Two new steam locomotive models have been produced by Werps Modelbouw,
these are 0-6-0 tank “Époque II” for “Chemin de Fer Belges” built
in 1855 by Wilson of Leeds, Ref. L02G, and price is 15,200 Bfr. The other
is a 2-4-2 built for the Dutch NRS in 1880 by Sharp Stewart, Ref. L01G,
and price is 22,000 Bfr.
Minitrix have issued 3 SNCB “Wagons-Tremies” type Fals. Two are
in the new “B Cargo” livery, the other dark brown of the CFL
Ref. 15120. In addition two containers “TTS” and “Ewals
Cargo” are available, Ref. 15117.
Marklin Mini Club have a modern, scale Z, set of 4 SNCB “B Cargo” wagons
Ref. 86354.
Manufacturers Lima are planning to close both the Jouef and Arnold factories,
however there has been a reaction from the French unions which may halt some
closures. Apparently the moulds from both these factories would be relocated
for manufacture in China. [Based on my experience with the Chinese made Hornby
SR Merchant Navy class there should be no quality concerns.]
Roco currently produce one main catalogue, which contains items available
from all dealers throughout the year and is supplemented by “mini catalogues” containing
local items for specific countries with the items only being available from
dealers in those countries. Now Roco are planning one main catalogue supplemented
with a brochure entitled “The International Collection”, which
will list all planned special items for specific countries. These will
now be available from all participating International Collection dealers
on a
pre-ordered basis. In addition Roco plan to reduce their range of DB items
and increase their range for other countries.